Birds of Earlswood

...and surrounding areas

A blog for the recording of mainly birds seen in the Earlswood area of Warwickshire, England. Sites within this area include Earlswood Lakes (Terry's Pool, Engine Pool and Windmill Pool), Clowes Wood and New Fallings Coppice SSSI, and Earlswood Moathouse NR. Notable sightings from nearby areas may also be included.
Your sightings and counts would be gratefully received. Please email them with your name to the address below.

Sunday, 6 May 2018

Team Earlswood recorded a total of 64 bird species on patch yesterday. It was a sunny, hot day with little cloud or wind, and lots of human disturbance in the usual areas, so certainly not an ideal day for picking up migrants. Highlights included our first Whinchat and Yellowhammer of the year, whilst 4 male Reed Bunting was a good count.

Some common species were notable by their absence, but 64 is actually not our worst total: previous spring all-dayers at Earlswood have finished on 56 species in 2015, 77 species in 2016 and 65 species last year. Many thanks to John Bishop, Chris Charles, Jon Chidwick, Janet James, John Oates, Joe Owen, John Sirrett and Jim Winsper for their contributions. Also many thanks to John Sirrett for putting together the following list of species recorded, in alphabetical order:

Sunday, 31 December 2017

At a site in Earlswood last year, I saw a female Great Crested Newt (GCN) in a pond partially covered in ice on February 24th - a very pleasant surprise given how early it was in the year and also because the species appeared to have not been recorded at Earlswood since the 1980s! I was interested in finding out how many GCNs might be using the site, so later in the spring during sunny weather I returned and found two males and four egg-laying females at a different pond but within the same site. There was also at least 32 Smooth Newts at the two ponds on that occasion too, which was impressive! Hoping more GCNs might be present, an evening torch survey was undertaken with assistance from Warwickshire Amphibian and Reptile Team (WART) member Louise Sherwell, but only two males and a female were found.

Smooth Newt and Great Crested Newt (John Oates)

This year, the second pond was covered with duckweed for much of the spring making observation difficult but on May 26th, with the help of Agni Arampoglou and Vicky Philpott of WART, another evening torch survey was carried out and single male GCNs were seen in both ponds at the site - a low number probably because it was late in the egg-laying season for this species. It seems that only a very small population may be present, making them vulnerable, but fortunately the site is managed specifically for wildlife.

Ponds at Clowes Wood meadow and a private farm were also surveyed this year, and although no GCNs were found at these, both held Smooth Newts and my observations elsewhere at Earlswood indicate that "Smoothies" are common and widespread in the area. Most methods of surveying for GCNs require a licence from Natural England, and I am grateful to Louise, Agni and Vicky who are all licence-holders for their help during the last two springs. I hope to get a licence for myself next year, which will hopefully make it easier to arrange surveys with local landowners and potentially allow other ponds supporting GCNs to be detected. If any local landowners have ponds that would be suitable for surveying, please get in touch.

Agni, Vicky and Tony Philp also helped me set up a reptile survey at a private site next to the lakes, using 11 sheets of corrugated roofing material supplied by Earlswood Wildlife Partnership, which I then monitored during the summer. A Smooth Newt was found basking on top of one sheet, and a young Toad was resting under another, but sadly no reptiles were found. The hope is that Slow Worms might be present as the habitat looks suitable for them, and although the sheets have now been brought indoors for the winter, the survey will recommence next year.

Common Toad under reptile refugium sheet (Matt Griffiths)

Smooth Newt on reptile refugium sheet (Matt Griffiths)

Matt

P.S. I originally wrote this for Earlswood Wildlife Partnership, and I am grateful to them for allowing me the use of their reptile refugia.

Sunday, 3 September 2017

A total of 63 bird species were recorded during yesterday's Autumn all-dayer at Earlswood, which was a great result considering the pleasant weather and large amount of disturbance at the lakes (cf. 57 spp. in 2016, 56 spp. in 2015). Many thanks to John Bishop, Jon Chidwick, Janet James, Mike Jeeves, John Oates, Tony Philp, John Sirrett and Jim Winsper who also took part, and extra thanks to Mr. Sirrett who collated sightings during the first half of the morning. Species list as follows, highlights in bold:

Greylag Goose

Canada Goose

Mallard

Shoveler (1)

Tufted Duck

Pheasant

Little Grebe (at private site)

Great Crested Grebe

Cormorant

Grey Heron

Sparrowhawk

Buzzard

Kestrel

Moorhen

Coot

Lapwing (1)

Common Sandpiper (2)

Black-headed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Stock Dove

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Swift (5 - quite late)

Kingfisher

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Swallow

House Martin

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Wren

Dunnock

Robin

Whinchat (2)

Wheatear (3)

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Blackcap

Common Whitethroat

Chiffchaff

Willow Warbler

Goldcrest

Spotted Flycatcher (1)

Long-tailed Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Coal Tit

Marsh Tit

Nuthatch

Jay

Magpie

Jackdaw

Carrion Crow

Raven

Starling

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Linnet

Bullfinch

Somehow no-one managed to find Treecreeper though!!! Bat box checks with Earlswood Wildlife Partnership were a nice distraction for 4 hours, and the session was probably the best I've attended in the six years the project has been running, as we had five species including two scarcer ones: a Leisler's Bat (for the second consecutive year) and a Whiskered/Alcathoe/Brandt's Bat (droppings collected for DNA analysis to ID later). Later on, I also had a very close encounter with a young Badger at a new sett - all in all, a great day :-)

We had no hopes of beating most of the other patches that also participated, given that they were mainly premier birding sites, but we came second-from-last. West Midlands all-dayer results were as follows:

Friday, 28 July 2017

Valley Road car park is to be closed for a 6-month trial, a decision which has been made with no consultation with birders who regularly use it. It was a nasty surprise when I found out, and very disappointing, especially as two people involved in the decision know full well I regularly use the car park and had talked to me about other things in recent months, but not about this! One of the reasons for the closure is fly-tipping, but I can't see how closing it will stop that as there will still be space there for rubbish, albeit behind a fence/barrier. I just hope other birders don't feel discouraged by this like I am...

Some email correspondence below for further info.

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I was very disappointed to learn that a decision has been made to close the Valley Road car park for a 6-month trial, without any consultation with users of the car park. I and other birdwatchers regularly use this car park because it is accessible early morning when the other car parks are closed, and it provides convenient close access to the causeway, which is a favoured observation point for us. The car park is also regularly used by C&RT and their contractors, especially those who cut the grass along the dam/causeway and do the monthly safety inspections. Other visitors also use it, and although it has low vehicle capacity I disagree with the statement that it is rarely full of cars as this varies depending on time of day and whether weekday or weekend - generally it is well used at weekends and during nice weather, like the other car parks but on a smaller scale. I took the photo in this link on Thursday evening last week: https://twitter.com/earlswoodbirds/status/885626937955295232

With the local population set to increase as more houses are built at Tidbury Green and Dickens Heath, more car parking may be needed in the future, not less. Closing this car park may encourage anglers who currently use it to park more along Malthouse Lane, especially at night when the other car parks are closed - poignant given the possibility of night fishing being allowed in future. It also won't remove antisocial behaviour from the Earlswood area as a whole as undesirables will simply go elsewhere to the dam, other car parks such as the Reservoir pub's, or the quieter lanes. Converting the car park to a planted area also won't necessarily stop fly-tipping there, as people could still drop rubbish on the plants from the road.

Surely if people are willing to take responsibility for closing the car park, they could take responsibility for improving and maintaining it? Perhaps removable bollards could be used there? I could help remove litter if provided with a picker and bags.

Kind regards,

Matt

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Hi Matt,

thank you for contacting us directly. I am aware that you have raised this on your Twitter account.

We have worked well together in the past so I am sorry that you are against this trial.

I am also rather disappointed that you don't seem to appreciate that we have monitored and explored all the possibilities that have been open to us.

I am sending the reply that I sent to Janet James, I believe you know Janet.

However I will add that your suggestion of removable bollards was discussed as an option but discarded as it would not stop fly tipping.

I draw your attention to the fact that C&RT were present at the meeting which made this decision and have offered some financial help towards completing the work.

Your offer of help with litter picking is appreciated but the problem is greater I'm afraid than litter picking. When we had the meeting in Valley Rd., including District Cllr., our MP, Sgt. Bob Shaw, Ian Lane from C&Rt, Parish Council representative and Res. Assoc. representatives, we had to stand amongst men's underwear, a pair of denim jeans, bags of assorted rubbish and the debris was noted which had accumulated at the back of the site.

Depressing sight. Residents should not have to tolerate this as I'm sure you will agree. This of course is the tip of the iceberg of ASB associated with this parcel of land.

You mention people taking responsibility for improving and maintaining the site. The whole point of this trial closure is because nobody will take responsibility or spend any money on it.

We can find nobody willing to take ownership, we would much prefer it if somebody came forward.

It requires money of course to make it work as a viable car park. Dumped cars set alight, overnight sleepers, fly tipping and acknowledged drug dealing don't make it very attractive for a possible responsible organisation with funding.

Yes, it may put a few more cars elsewhere but that problem already exists and has to be dealt with.

The Causeway is on the list, along with Valley Rd., for the extra police patrols which we have successfully campaigned for over the last 2 or 3 years.

I will say that we have noticed a reduction in the last 6 weeks of fly tipping. As for the number of cars parking there, I do regularly monitor this, I'm in and out often at different times of the day, as a resident.

There are no easy answers here Matt, we did a clean up there and took away 14 bags of assorted debris, a quantity of bedding from the back of the site, and the human waste issues associated with overnight sleepers. Asbestos panels and loads of broken glass.

There are people living right behind this land.

You mention lack of consultation but, as a Res. Assoc., we do our best to find the best outcome for the local community. The residents of Earlswood make many compromises to accommodate the visitors to the lakes.

I did speak to users of the car park, most said that if it was such a problem then close it.

It is impossible to please everyone of course and it is a trial and will be evaluated at the end of it.

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Dear Ms. James,

The decision to trial a closure of this car park was taken at a meeting attended by our MP, the police, Canal and River Trust, our District Councillor and representation from our Parish Council.

The suggestion of a six month closure came from the police. We, as a Res. Assoc. do not have the power to take action without the full support of those people mentioned.

It was agreed unanimously by those at the meeting.

Why do we need to take this action you may ask if you have not fully acquainted yourself with all details.

We can find no trace of an owner of the land. This means nobody takes responsibility for maintenance or management of the land.

Streetscene, at S.D.C. have been cooperative in cleaning up the area when there has been fly tipping. This has been a regular occurrence.

We are grateful for this as the land does not belong to S.D.C. therefore they do not have to accept any responsibility towards its maintenance.

We have people sleeping there overnight with the resulting rubbish and human excreta left behind.

We have had recently a car dumped there and then set alight. There are two mobile homes directly behind and there was great concern for their safety.

The other issue which is ongoing is the use of this area to deal drugs. This usually takes place in the hours of darkness although not solely.

Whilst monitoring the car park, such as it is, we have noted that it is rarely full, with a maximum of eight cars, mostly there are just one or two cars throughout the day.

I would also point out that overnight fishing is illegal at Earlswood Lakes so there should be no vehicles associated with fishing in the hours of darkness.

Whilst the residents of Earlswood understand the needs of visitors they are entitled to peace and quiet in the hours of darkness and the early hours of the morning. This is not unreasonable.

Ms. James, you suggest that we improve the area in Valley Rd., but with no ownership, who do you suggest pays for this? Do you think that we haven't explored options?

The Res. Assoc., made up of local residents, is well placed to know all the recurring problems we have accommodating the visitors to the lakes

The residents of Malthouse Lane have to put up with far too much as it is and this area in Valley Rd. attracts anti social behaviour.

We are trying to remove these unacceptable elements not encourage them. If you live here I'm sure you would agree with this.

I would suggest that, in the early hours of the morning, you park in the Red Lion car park. By walking along Wood Lane you can take the path down to the lakes therefore disturbing no-one. I would also suggest approaching Tanworth in Arden Parish Council asking if the Malthouse Lane car park hours of closing in the summer months could be reviewed and a sign for the car park be reinstated.

We do not want anybody parking anywhere in the hours of darkness, residents deserve their hours of peace to live and sleep.

This is our view and we would prefer the area to be taken over and managed but this is not an option that has been taken up by any of the interested parties.

Apologies for the tardiness of this post. The past few months have been somewhat depressing for those of us with an interest in the wildlife of Earlswood Lakes. Although the Cormorant-scaring, which had been causing disturbance to waterbirds, was stopped around the beginning of this month due to the bird breeding season starting, further efforts to reduce Cormorant numbers at the lakes by removing trees used for perching have resulted in an unsightly, heartbreaking scene at Terry's Pool. Trees on some of the islands have been cut back extremely hard, and it will take a long time for them to recover, which I hope they will and will be allowed to. I thank Tony Philp, who has been monitoring the lakes more frequently than me of late, for permission to reproduce his email to C&RT here, which explains the story more fully:

As a conservationist I'm becoming increasingly concerned by the CRT Fisheries & Angling Management's approach to maintenance around Earlswood Lakes.

Initially it took the form of 'Minor Tree Works' around the angling platforms in December of last year, when contractors cut, pruned and removed overhanging limbs, branches and bushes from around the platforms on Engine Pool. This they then stacked 6' high between each platform (attached pics) thus suppressing any natural vegetation that might grow to screen the lake and provide refuge for fish and wildlife. As predicted in my email to Carl Nicholls on 9/01/17 this is now falling/being thrown into the lake and adjoining feeder streams, not to mention destroying the appearance of what was an attractive lakeside walk for visitors.

Last week the contractors returned and under the instructions of Carl Nicholls were to have removed limbs and branches from the 5 or 6 islands at the far end of Terry's Pool (this despite the fact that the CRT had been made aware earlier that birds were nesting on the site) What happened appears inexcusable - The large 2 islands at the north end of the lake, which had already been 'pruned' last year, were reduced to little more than floating platforms (attached pic). Most of the prunings were left on the island or in the water making it inaccessible to waterfowl for nesting. A third island which had no suitable perching places was half attacked and left with several ideal perches! (attached before & after pics)

This is not the first time that contractors employed by the CRT have made a mess of the job, and I would suggest that in future, such work is supervised by a knowledgeable member of the CRT on site or, alternative contractors found who know what they are doing. Carl was at pains to point out that these contractors were 'aware of environmental considerations including the potential for nesting birds'. - I don't think so!

I understand that you would like Terry's Pool to 'remain a place for nature, introduce more educational visits and try and regain the SSSI status'. So would I, but if this is the case, then the Fisheries & Angling Management staff need to be aware of it , so that they can actively support the aim rather than favour dismantling the habitat for the benefit of only fishermen.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Philp (10/03/2017)

C&RT sent the following response to an email from Earlswood Wildlife Partnership:

It appears that whilst a clear instruction was given by Carl, our contractors have failed to deliver the agreed works and done something totally different which is unacceptable. The works planned by Carl were minor tree works that had been approved. The works have been carried out on completely the wrong island as they were supposed to be carried out on the small islands at the top of the reservoir but have instead been carried out on the two islands closest to the Engine lake . The works have also been carried out beyond the specification of just cutting tree limbs and branches.

The Trust now needs to understand how this has happened and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

As is correctly stated below I still firmly believe the site can reach an environmental status. The nature of the lakes will always mean that we need to keep the balance of works to promote wildlife and also to ensure the fishery is successful but we can’t keep making errors like this and I can assure you that neither Carl, Paul or me are happy that this has happened.

Tuesday, 29 November 2016

Just to let you know that our contactors will be onsite on Friday 2nd December and the following week from Tuesday 6th December to cut, prune and remove overhanging limbs, branches and bushes that are having an impact on anglers, casting or playing fish from the wooden platforms around Engine pool. They will be working their way round visiting each platform and carrying out any necessary work to allow for safe angling. Many will require no work, with the majority of the works being from pegs 15 to 40.

Monday, 21 November 2016

I've reported a fair bit of bad news for Earlswood wildlife on here this year. On top of this, I neglected to mention such things as the clearance of the scrubby field beside the railway in-between Clowes Wood and Earlswood station during the breeding season, the continuing gradual cutting of trees in the copse adjoining the northernmost side of Terry's Pool, and most recently the bund of earth with leylandii conifers planted on top that is now at Rose Farm. Apparently the landowner of Rose Farm is also not allowing Earlswood Wildlife Partnership to replace the dilapidated owl box that's there, which was formerly used regularly by Stock Doves. :-(

Anyway, I have three pieces of good news to pass on:

Housing development

There was concern about 10 sites in the Earlswood recording area being considered for suitability for development, after they were included in a "Call for sites" document published by Solihull Council earlier this year. However, the council have now published their Draft Local Plan for the borough, to guide housing development up to the year 2033, and I'm pleased to see that none of the sites proposed to be developed lie within the Earlswood area. Having said that, a few sites are fairly close and an increase in the human population locally will still impact Earlswood, most notably through increased visitor numbers to the area. The Draft Local Plan document and maps of proposed development sites are available at:http://www.cgra.org.uk/documents/draft_local_plan_nov2016.pdfhttp://www.cgra.org.uk/documents/draft_local_plan_site_allocations.pdf

Terry's Pool fishing

Another concern was the proposals submitted to Canal and River Trust regarding expansion of fishing at Terry's Pool. Fortunately, thanks to everyone who sent in objections, the proposals will not be considered further, though I suspect they'll be pushed for again in the future. The following email contains some further potentially exciting news:
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Dear All

Thank you, on behalf of Earlswood Stakeholders Group, for your contribution to the consultation regarding fishing on Terry’s Pool Earlswood. Ian Lane, The Canal and River Trust’s Waterways Manager for the West Midlands, has considered all the correspondence regarding the issue and made the following statement: -

I have now informed Mr Verney that I will not be changing my stance on fishing around Terry’s pool and it will continue to be used as a place for nature with no increase in fishing. We want to raise its profile and introduce more educational visits to it, including pond dipping etc. I also want to try and regain the old SSSI status it once had as well as using it for spawning of fish (if possible) and other water based creatures. Please pass on my thanks to those that helped in the consultation process.

I am sure you will all be as pleased with the result as we were.

Kind Regards

Len Cresswell

Member of Earlswood Lakes Stakeholders Group representing CRT, West Midlands Waterways Partnership

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If anyone knows anything about the SSSI designation which Terry's Pool formerly had, please get in touch with me as I can't find anything on it.

Terry's Pool, 17/11/2016

Earlswood Springwatch

Thirdly, Earlswood Springwatch 2017 is happening, and the date has been confirmed as Saturday May 13th. I should be free to attend this and I'm currently considering doing a "Birds of Earlswood" display! Perhaps in conjunction with the West Midland Bird Club. I kind of struggle with talking to people, especially groups, so I'm looking for at least one other Earlswood regular to join me on the day for a bit of moral support and to help talk to the public about our patch. No doubt the WMBC folk will also help but it would be good to have someone who can talk about recent sightings, etc. Anyone interested?

Monday, 12 September 2016

We've been here before, but again proposals have been submitted to Canal and River Trust regarding expansion of fishing at Terry's Pool, and apparently the fisherman pushing this is taking them to court over it! Currently fishing at Terry's Pool is restricted to the eastern side that adjoins Engine Pool. The following is from Earlswood Wildlife Partnership, and the expansion proposals are in the image at the bottom:

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Dear Members

Attached are details of proposals sent to Canal and River Trust regarding changes requested to fishing rights on Terry’s Pool.

Earlswood Wildlife Partnership will oppose these changes which we see as detrimental to the wildlife of this area but we have been asked to forward this proposal to our members in order that as many people as possible have the opportunity to make their views heard.

no later than 19th September to enable him to compile a reply to these proposals based on interested parties views (we would be grateful if you could send a copy of your response to us as well).

Please do forward a copy of this to anyone you feel maybe interested in this proposal and may wish to make a response but, most importantly, please send your responses to Len Cresswell BEFORE 19th September.